Fishing is one of the most popular types of outdoor recreation. We all remember the ideal picture of a boy sitting on a riverbank with a cane pole and a can of worms. Others fish from the bank of a lake or stream by casting into the water and retrieving the bait utilizing a manually operated reel. Most fishing today, however, particularly in the United States, Canada and other industrial nations, is done by the use of a boat, normally a power boat with an outboard or inboard motor or inboard/outboard motor. By use of a boat a fisherman can access many fishing spots in a relatively short time compared to the opportunities available to a fisherman that does not have a boat and is limited to fishing spots available from the bank of a lake or stream.
In spite of the great advantages of the use of a motorboat for outdoor fishing, motorboats themselves are a serious handicap to the devoted fisherman. They must be transported by a trailer, unless stored in a permanent dock in a facility on a lake. If transported by a trailer, loading and unloading a boat is time consuming and burdensome. Further, motorboats, including the trailers and equipment that go with them are relatively expensive. Further, motorboats are noisy and polluting.
A compromise that is becoming more popular with fisherman is the use of a one-person inflatable boat. The improvements that have been made in plastics and other fabrics of which inflatable boats can be economically manufactured has contributed to their popularity. The typical fisherman using an inflatable boat can transport the boat in a car trunk, that is, without the need of a trailer. The boat is easily launched into and retrieved from a river or lake. An inflatable boat offers the opportunity of a fisherman to move about to find fishing spots that are otherwise inaccessible to a fisherman that is limited to fishing from the bank of a river or stream. Further, one-person inflatable boats allow a fisherman the peace and solitude that is more or less destroyed by the use of motorboats.
Typically an inflatable boat is moved about on water by a fisherman paddling with his feet. In recent times the concept of employing a battery powered submersible motor for an inflatable boat has become of interest since it increases the maneuverability of an inflatable boat, reduces the energy required for fishing and thereby increases the overall enjoyment of a fishing experience.
For background information relating to the concept of adding an electric powered submersible motor to an inflatable boat reference may be had to the following previously issued United States patents:
______________________________________ PATENT NO. INVENTOR TITLE ______________________________________ 3,324,488 Schulz, Jr. Aquatic Floater 3,665,534 McIntyre Fishing Float Motor Support 3,881,442 Seiple Motor Mount For An Inflatable Boat 4,021,873 Francois Circular Watercraft 4,371,144 Godlewski Motor Securing Device For Watercraft 4,911,094 Akers Powered Floater 5,081,947 Holden Boat Assembly 5,090,930 Walden Power-Driven Float Assembly 5,485,981 Lindahl Motor Mount Assembly For Float Tube 5,601,461 Mills Float Tube Propulsion Apparatus ______________________________________